Vitaly Mutko, minister for sport and patron of Russia 2018, elected president of the Federation

Vitaly Mutko was elected president of the RFU, the Russian Football Federation, after the extraordinary general meeting of the body in Moscow (RUS) on 02/09/2015. Mutko, 56 years old, held parallel functions as the Russian minister for sport, president of the LOC (Local Organising Committee) for the 2018 World Cup and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee. He is also a former president of the RFU, having held the role from 2005 to 2010.

His sole opponent in the final election on 02/09/2015 was the Russian nationalist deputy Igor Lebedev, an executive committee member of the RFU. The election of the head of the Russian Federation follows the forced departure of former president Nikolai Tolstykh, who was dismissed due to the financial difficulties of the Federation under his tenure.

Vitaly Mutko's tenure runs until September 2016, when a new election, this time for a full term of four years, will be organised.

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